


Always Trust Your Copilot

by Meskeet



Series: h/c bingo fills 2017 [8]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Poe Dameron Needs A Hug, Post-TLJ, Rey Is Actually a Ray Of Sunshine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-23 07:20:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13185111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meskeet/pseuds/Meskeet
Summary: The aftermath of Crait. Poe and Rey, flying the Millennium Falcon.He couldn’t remember the last time he slept.Actuallyslept, because being stunned by Leia’s blaster didn’t count.





	Always Trust Your Copilot

**Author's Note:**

> Another h/c bingo fill... Rey and Poe are starting to get out of hand where I'm concerned. Unfortunately my daily oneshot posting has slowed because one of my oneshots went out of control and became a magnum opus to the two of them. With any luck, that'll be up on the 1st.
> 
> For now, here's a small oneshot to tide over some of my favorite readers and to keep on track to have my card filled out.

Poe sighed and cast a quick glance behind him, ensuring the coast was clear before he leaned back in his chair.

Rebels sprawled out over every passably horizontal surface in sight, and some that weren’t. Poe suspected that it wasn’t so much a feeling of safety but the depletion of adrenaline that stopped them from being upright and moving. Even Chewie and Leia had given in, though they had first retreated to a private corner with shared grief and (in Leia’s case) left an extremely detailed set of orders behind.

The only thing stopping Poe from pacing was the idea that if he started, he would never stop.

He couldn’t remember the last time he slept. _Actually_ slept, because being stunned by Leia’s blaster didn’t even remotely count. Stims could only keep him alert for so long before the body and mind began to give out. Poe suspected that he wouldn't know his threshold until he ran right into it. Just in case, Poe checked the fuel gauges one more time.

Somewhere out there, Kylo Ren was frothing with rage and hopefully taking off heads when he couldn’t track them down. Somewhere out there, an entire army was baying for their blood.

Here, however, there was nothing visible except for distant stars.

At some point when Poe had been glaring at the navigation systems, Finn had wandered in. He'd raised an eyebrow when he’d found Poe at the controls.

“Rey and Chewie know you’re in here?” He leaned back against the doorway, crossing his arms and looking suspiciously nonchalant.

Poe bit back a biting reply and shrugged. “I haven’t seen Rey.” He knew she was _somewhere_ on the ship, but the _Falcon_ was large and he hadn’t exactly been wandering. Finn shifted, and he still didn’t look all too happy. For a moment, Poe wondered if he was the source of it. Except… Rose.

Finn grunted. He looked just lost enough that Poe reached out and gave him an awkward pat on the shoulder. It didn’t seem to have any effect.

“I’ll let her know you’re looking for her if I see her, okay?” Poe promised, and although Finn still didn’t look _entirely_ satisfied, his shoulders did slump just a little bit and he took a step closer to Poe.

Finn stayed a while longer, poking at controls and occasionally asking Poe what they did. Poe gave the best explanations he could, but even he wasn’t entirely certain of every modification Han Solo had made to the _Falcon._ Finally, after a long hypothesis on whether or not the _third_ extraneous lever next to the navigation systems were more relevant to the weapons system or scuttling any cargo, Finn raised an eyebrow and stopped asking questions.

It wasn’t longer after that when he drifted off with a vague mention of checking on Rose and a slight laugh when Poe suggested some sleep.

Poe checked the fuel gauge after he left and then the time. Three more hours until their jump into hyperspace. He narrowed his eyes at the path Chewie had plotted out once again, fingers itching to run a few simulations just to check.

Maybe that was the caf’s influence. Or just more of Poe’s bad judgement speaking.

“I know it’s a piece of junk but honestly, I think the fuel systems would be the last to go.”

Rey’s approach had been so quiet that he didn’t realize she was there until she spoke, leaning down to pick his feet up off of the other pilot’s chair in the same movement. Poe jerked away from her, straightening himself up as he realized, for the first time, that he had started to doze.

She dropped down into the pilot’s chair next to him, nudging one of the two chipped mugs she’d set down on the console in his direction. Her fingers trailed over the controls, tracing lines along the familiar switches and buttons and levers.

“Sorry,” she said, although Rey didn’t really sound apologetic. “I didn’t realize you’d be asleep.”

“I didn’t think I would be either,” he said with a touch of humor.

It worked, or at least, it made her cast a half-smile in his direction. Rey didn’t reply as her gaze swept over the panels in front of her, scanning the read-outs flickering to life. She flicked a few switches and when an error finally came up on screen, smacked the panel to her left with palm of her hand. Almost meekly, the message vanished.

“ _Han_ ,” Rey muttered. It was as much a fond memory as it was a curse. Catching Poe’s eye, she shrugged almost self-consciously and then added, almost cheerful. “If not for Chewie, I probably would have blown us up by now. He put enough failsafes into here it’s a miracle anyone could steal it in the first place.”

Poe watched her work, checking his guesses about the systems against what she was doing. He reached for the drink she had offered earlier, sipping it with some caution. He vaguely recognized it by the smell as something Leia favored. _Tea._

“You know,” Rey said, hiding her lips behind her own drink. “You _could_ go to sleep. Believe it or not, the autopilot actually does work.”

He shook his head. _No, I really can’t_ , he almost said, but swallowed the words. “The First Order found us once. They could do it again.”

There was understandable skepticism in the way she met his eyes and more than a bit of danger in her voice. “They won’t,” she said fiercely. “They’ll be too busy trying to figure out what to do now that Snoke’s dead.”

Finn had told him a lot about Rey. She was brave, she was selfless, she was Finn’s other best friend in the world, and she yelled at him when he tried to hold her hand as they ran away. Finn had mentioned the core of phrik holding it all together. He hadn’t mentioned that she was the type of person to bring a second mug of tea into the cockpit with her.

It made Poe like her more.

“You should sleep,” Rey said again. She pulled her legs up in the chair, tucking her feet underneath her. “Even the General is.”

Poe shrugged, kept his tone flippant. “You haven’t slept either. Nightmares?”

He wondered, briefly, if she would try to lie to him. He hadn’t exactly missed the way her hands shook when she picked up her mug or her bloodshot eyes. Poe had seen exactly the same symptoms after he’d escaped from Kylo Ren and crashed on Jakku.

Rey’s look bordered on a glare, then softened. “Close enough, if you count memories. Besides, I’ve never slept well out of atmosphere.” She laughed, a bit. “The first time I travelled in space, I didn’t want to leave the controls. Finn was convinced I was missing Jakku, I think I was just for the sunrise. I would’ve taken a sunset, too – or just any sign that time was passing, really.”

 “I used to hate it.” Poe smiled despite himself. “It always just seemed like another reminder that my mom was out in space while I was stuck planetside.”

“A Rebel?” Rey asked.

“For a while.” Poe hummed. He didn’t miss how Rey brightened a little at that, propping her elbows on the arm of the chair and angling towards him.  “A better one than me, at least. She and the General were friends. Luke, too, as much as he was friends with anyone.”

As quickly as her eagerness had risen, it faltered. Poe could have kicked himself – even he, who could barely begin to sense the Force – had felt the chasm that had opened in the Force after they left Crait.

“Finn told me what you did.” Rey pulled back a little, although she didn’t turn away. “You gave everyone enough hope to look for a way out of the base.”

“If I hadn’t trapped us there and tipped off the First Order -” Poe cut himself off. “I couldn’t give up on us, not after so many died to get the Resistance that far.”

“I’ll make sure to tell Leia that you turned us over to the First Order then,” Rey said. It took him a moment to pick up on the sarcasm.

He almost took the bait, but exhaustion just made him tip his head back and close his eyes. Poe didn’t need to watch her face as he ticked off each item.  “Bombing fleet. Finn and Rose. Transport vessels.”

Rey’s hesitation was easy to mark, but she didn’t let a little uncertainty stop her. That, at least, had been something Finn had mentioned. “You led the last attack on the cannon. You trusted that there was a way out – look, Poe, I wasn’t there for any of that. But Finn was and Leia was, and neither of them think the less of you for it. If they thought you were a danger to the Resistance, we would’ve dropped you off three systems back.”

At some point, surprise had made him open his eyes. Rey glared at him and he almost checked to make sure her staff wasn’t anywhere in reach. Poe opened his mouth once. Closed it. Opened it again to say, “I don’t know if I can trust myself with command again.”

Not when he’d stared at the cannon and realized _no, I can’t lose more friends._ Not when he’d blinked against the First Order and threw the need for a miracle into someone’s hands entirely. Not when he’d watched ship after ship blow apart under the First Order’s guns.

Rey smiled, but her eyes remained entirely serious. “I trust you,” she said, and he swallowed the _you don’t even know me_ knee-jerk reaction. “If I think you’re making a mistake, I’ll tell you. Leia will, too, but if she can’t – I will. So you’ll just have to trust me. Deal?”

She held out a hand.

Poe wondered if this was something from the Force – some Jedi instinct Rey channeled that told her Poe Dameron wouldn’t lead the Resistance charging to their deaths at the First Order’s hands again. Or maybe this was something so entirely inherent to Rey that he couldn’t even begin to grasp it.

“You have no reason to trust me,” he said, reaching out to take her hand anyway.

Rey’s hand was smaller than his, but warmer. She grinned, that same fierce expression that she had worn when she mentioned Snoke lurking around her eyes. “You’re my copilot,” she said, nodding to the seat Poe still sat in. “Didn’t Han tell you? First rule of being a Rebel fighter: always trust your copilot.”

Poe’s hand felt strangle empty when she pulled away. “That seemed awfully trusting for Han.”

She snorted. There was a hint of mischief in her eyes when she pointed to the console in front of them. “Only because he switched the _Falcon’s_ kill-switch with the ignition. I think he figured that if someone could get this into the air without blowing her up, they probably knew what they were doing. So, copilots?”

Poe grinned. “Copilots,” he confirmed.

**Author's Note:**

> "Survivor's Guilt" on my h/c bingo card.
> 
> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed!


End file.
